Bellevue Patch Remembers 9/11

Not only does the nation still feel the effects of 9/11, but even daily life here in Bellevue has been affected by the events of that day.

Photo 1: Commander Jim Weaver of the Lake Washington VFW Post #2995, said veterans keep getting younger -- but their concerns remain the same. “Twenty-thousand veterans last year lost their homes to foreclosure. PTSD is at an all-time high,” Weaver said. Most members of Post #2995 served in the Vietnam War, because Korean War and World War II veterans have died or are elderly. But the two wars that followed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 – operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom – have increased the numbers of young veterans after more than a decade of relative peace. The VFW Post #2995 now is starting to see younger faces – veterans in their late 20s and early 30s. “I don’t pay attention to age; my comrades are my comrades and we treat each other equally.” Still, the younger members are introducing some older members to new concepts – smart phones, Facebook, karaoke. “We enjoy having them,” Weaver said. “They keep us young.”

Photo 2-4: The city of Hualien, Taiwan, R.O.C., gave its sister city, Bellevue, a statue of the Buddhist bodhisattva Guan Yin, who is the goddess of mercy and compassion, in sympathy of the Sept. 11 attacks. Guan Yin overlooks the City Hall plaza.

Patch has taken photos in cities around the country of people and places that have changed as a result of 9/11. See our 9/11 slideshow of how America still is affected by the terrorist attacks 10 years ago.